Blue Star Chronicles

It was first reported that Kimberly Munley shot and brought down Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the man who perpetrated the terrorist attack at Ft. Hood Army base in Texas last week. The reports mentioned she was with her partner, but never mentioned what her partner was doing while she was shooting and being shot. It turns out, her partner, Mark Todd shot the Fort Hood suspect and brought him down. Here’s more of the story.

It’s not uncommon for the initial stories to come out of a traumatic event to be jumbled and misrepresented. It’s called the ‘fog of war’. Different people see and remember different things. Reporters are in a hurry to get stories out, to take a different angle and to scoop their competitors. Therefore, the stories are not always accurate in the beginning. Most of us know that and realize that it’s understandable.

All of that said, some of us wondered about Kim Munley’s partner that was mentioned in articles about her heroic acts the day that Ft. Hood soldiers were attacked, wounded and killed by a terrorist. Now we are getting more of the story of Killeen, Texas Police Sgt. Mark Todd who shot the Fort Hood suspect and brought his violent rampage to an end.

As stated in an earlier post, Munley and Todd happened to be walking past the Soldier Readiness Center when they heard shots. They both responded and encountered the gunman on the outside of the building. When the two started taking fire, they broke in different directions. Apparently, Munley encountered Hasan first and was shot three times as earlier reported. When Todd encountered Hasan at the front of the building, the gunman was still on his feet and had reloaded his gun. Todd shot him several times and brought him down. He then checked Hasan for other weapons. Todd wasn’t hit in the gunfight. He then began life-saving measures on the wounded.

Todd’s mother, 66-year-old Mary Todd, said she didn’t want to take any credit away from Kimberly Munley, but wanted people to know that her son was also a hero in the worst terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11. And he certainly should be recognized as such.

In his 25-year career as a military policeman and then civilian police officer, this is the first time he has had to fire his weapon in the line of duty.

Mark Todd, 42-years-old, gave the most detailed account of the incident which you can hear in the video below. Investigators warn that initial reports are often inaccurate and unclear and remind us that the attack is still under investigation. There will undoubtedly be more details to emerge as the investigation continues. Meanwhile, we are pleased to get a clearer picture of what ended Hasan’s rampage and find out about the man who brought him down. We especially are interested in the story of another hero in this horrible story.

Photos: www.wenn.com